Sage grouse breeding ground populated near Sparks

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) -- State wildlife officials have discovered an important breeding ground for sage grouse in an area of the Pah Rah range where housing development has driven out much of the native population.

State biologists and volunteers counted at least 24 males and three hens earlier this month at one site in the mountain range north of Sparks.

The discovery is especially important because while the mating sites known as "leks" had been documented historically in the Pah Rah range northeast of the Reno-Sparks area, many lek sites have fallen victim to one- and two-story homes, officials for the Nevada Division of Wildlife said.

"We feared not many remained," said Rose Strickland, a member of the state's sage grouse conservation team and the Sierra Club.

Once abundant throughout the sagebrush terrain of western states, sage grouse numbers have declined by as much as 80 percent over the past 20 years.

Nevada is among several states working on conservation plans to protect the bird and stave off an Endangered Species Act listing, which could force strict land use and other regulatory restrictions.

The volunteer counts are part of the state's attempt to observe, record, band and radio-collar a sampling of the sage grouse across Nevada. In the most recent search earlier this month, it took about six hours to catch three of the grouse, collar them with radio transmitters and take blood samples for genetic testing.

NDOW biologist San Stiver estimates there are more than 50,000 sage grouse in Nevada. The brown, black and white colored males weigh up to 8 pounds.

Leks vary in size, with some drawing only two males while others draw as many as 250, Stiver said.

Adult sage grouse often return to the same leks year after year, vying to be the dominant bird in the group lucky enough to breed with the females. Some 90 percent of the females on a lek breed only with a few of the dominant birds, Stiver said.

The relatively small site in the Pah Rah range marks an important opportunity to better determine sage grouse distribution in Washoe County and whether these particular birds are genetically unique from others, he said.